Changes in society

	Issue Identified	Impact on KFRS	Relevant Strategy
A larger, older, more diverse population	UK population will grow by 2043 to be c72m - concentrated in cities. London is projected to be c10m by 2030 (up from c9m in 2018)	Increased population in Kent and Medway potentially changing service needs	Customer Safety and Engagement
	Approximately 22m people will be aged over 60 by 2039 – proportionally that means more than 0.5m in Kent and Medway	Potentially a higher proportion of the population within key risk groups, suggesting further investment in customer safety	Customer Safety and Engagement
	An increase in population diversity with the non-white share reaching c23%	More diverse customer needs. Potentially new groups to attract recruits from	Response and Resilience / Customer Safety and Engagement / People
	An increase in the number of one-person households (7.7m in 2011 to 10.7m in 2039)	Potentially a higher proportion of the population within key risk groups, suggesting further investment in customer safety	Customer Safety and Engagement
Inequality & social fragmentation	Life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest areas in Kent and Medway likely to increase from its current 11 year gap	Potentially a higher proportion of the population within key risk groups, suggesting further investment in customer safety	Customer Safety and Engagement
	Rising unemployment (particularly amongst younger and older age groups).	Potential impact on nuisance fire calls (grassland fires, deliberate fires). Increased levels of application for firefighter and other vacancies	Response and Resilience / People
	A widening gap widening between rich and poor in UK especially in terms of: Wealth Education Digital exclusion	Potentially a higher proportion of the population within key risk groups, suggesting further investment in customer safety	Customer Safety and Engagement
	The global pandemic [and any future variants] could change the profile of deprivation and health across the Kent and Medway, leading to pressure on existing public services.	Changes to home/office working patterns could have a positive impact on on-call availability	People
	New and emerging communities in Kent and Medway have different needs and differing expectations of public services	More diverse customer needs. Potentially new groups to attract recruits from	Customer Safety and Engagement / People
Built environment	Local authorities will be under increased pressure to release land for housing to keep pace with new patters of demand	Increased population in Kent and Medway potentially changing service needs	Customer Engagement and Safety
	Major transport infrastructure projects are likely in the south east to improve onwards connectivity	Potential changes to quickest routes to incidents. Short term transport disruption	Response and Resilience
	Major infrastructure projects such as London Resort will change demand and transport infrastructure	Potential changes to quickest routes to incidents. Short term transport disruption	Response and Resilience
	In a post Grenfell environment there will be a significant and continued focus on audit and inspection of buildings by the Authority	Continued investment in business safety and their skills and development	People/ Customer Safety and Engagement
	Low lying existing developments may be subject to more frequent flooding due to climate change	Increased demand for flood and rescues, potentially leading to a statutory duty for fire and rescue services	Response and Resilience
	Town centres and major urban areas may experience extreme summertime temperatures, impacting on public health	Increased demand for medical emergency calls in town centres	Response and Resilience
	A continued move away from the high street to online shopping creating empty spaces in town centres. Empty commercial properties in town centres increasingly being converted quickly to residential property	Changes to firefighting tactics and anticipated building behaviour for initial incident commanders	Response and Resilience / Customer Safety and Engagement / People
	Methods of home insulation using petrochemicals changes fire behaviour when compartments are breached – this becomes a more frequent occurrence	Changes to firefighting tactics and anticipated building behaviour for initial incident commanders	Response and Resilience / People
	An increase in solar farms as fossil fuel technology becomes obsolete	Changes to firefighting tactics and anticipated site behaviour for initial incident commanders	Response and Resilience / People